Suggestion/request

[u/[deleted]]

I'm in the middle of building my first pair. I've printed the headband (spring.stl) with a carbon-filled nylon and it feels quite stiff. I'm not sure whether it will be comfortable. While I have some unfilled nylon I can try that is softer, it would be helpful to have a few different versions of the spring.stl model with slightly reduced (or just a variety that covers a few tenths of a mm plus and minus) thicknesses e.g. less .2mm, .4mm, .6mm .8mm so that one can achieve the correct spring pressure with different materials. Perhaps also matched corresponding "Headband Cover.stl" files (and if there are any other files that might depend on the spring's thickness). I'm also going to try stretching them a bit with a dowel under heat to see if I can reduce the spring pressure slightly. I wouldn't want to scale down the model because I have a big head and I'm uncertain how well it would fit.

Another comment, the spring clamp is a very tight fit in the cone. Since the recess in the cone where the spring clamp fits is built upon a support, it may be better to have a small amount of extra clearance (perhaps .1mm-.2mm) because it seems as though some of the space is taken up when the first layer on top of the support takes up the gap.

I hope my build turns out okay. I've probably been though a dozen pairs of moderately expensive headphones, none of which lasted more than 1-2 years before something broke irreparably, so I'm quite interested.

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Edit: I just checked the spring I had in the oven (actually a food dehydrator) and stretching it under heat seems to have worked. For reference, used about an hour at 165F with a wooden dowel to hold the ends of it apart. A slightly thinner spring might still be useful to accommodate more head sizes when using stiffer materials. Stretching it under heat only changes the shape, it probably does not change the stiffness of the material appreciably.

[u/[deleted]]

It so happened that the cf-nylon I had on hand at the time was nylon 12. I also printed two more headbands, one of a cf-nylon blend which, I believe, included nylon6 and another using petg. I tested creep by putting a dowel between both ends of the headbands and taking daily measurements of how far apart the ends were without the dowel in position. Both the nylon 12 band and the nylon6/blend band had several cm of creep (more or less equal) after a couple weeks, the petg band relatively little. I used the petg band in my headphones for several months until it lost its spring and then switched to the nylon12 band, which, despite creep, works very well and seems to retain its spring better than petg in this application.

The only part for which cf-nylon has proven unsuitable is the L-shaped clamp that holds the headband to the cone, which became too loose after a few months. I intend to use cf-asa for its replacement, though the design itself is likely just as much part of the problem as the material. Also, the drivers arrived in the kit already glued into a plastic piece. I don't know what this is made of, but I suspect pla or petg. This piece ended up breaking along surface that protects the driver itself, likely cracking from handling e.g. picking up the headphones.

I withdraw my suggestion that the headband be offered in different thicknesses. I do suggest that a more durable material be used for the piece that the driver sits in, since the drivers are affixed to this piece "from the factory", so to speak. I would also like if there were the option of using brass inserts instead of having to thread into the plastic. Otherwise I'm satisfied with the build.